The season begins Sept. 29 with a free concert by the Brotherhood
and Sisterhood All Star Jazz Band

Los Angeles, CA -- August 29, 1996 --
The Harriet and Charles Luckman Theatre season for 1996-97, a
wonderfully eclectic blend of emerging and established artists
of dance, music and theatre, includes the final performance of
the renowned Lewitzky Dance Company and the 1925 silent horror
film classic, The Phantom of the Opera, complete with full
orchestra and singer.

The season begins in September with a free concert by the Brotherhood
and Sisterhood All Star Jazz Band. Other music performances include
The Los Angeles Concert Opera, The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, Christian
McBride and Joe Lovano, Anderson and Ying Quartets, Bobby Rodriguez
and the HMA Orchestra, and the multi-talented Rita Moreno. The
dance line-up showcases Philadanco, Ballet Folklórico del
Pacífico, Lula Washington, Martha Graham Dance Company,
Smuin Ballets/SF, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Lewitzky Dance
Company, AVAZ International Dance Theatre and Dance Kaleidoscope.
Theatre/cinema performances include The Phantom of the Opera,
Culture Clash and three stage presentations by the Acting Company.

In addition, this season offers special children's presentations
featuring Doctor Dinosaur, Kinnara Taiko, ODC/San Francisco's
The Velveteen Rabbit and Anderson Quartet at a cost of
only $5 per performance when purchased as a series. Special attention
is also given to seniors and students as the Luckman presents
a series of matinees at a savings of 65 percent. Entitled S.S.
Sunday Sampler, the matinees include Lula Washington on Nov. 17,
Smuin Ballets/SF on March 2, the Acting Company's presentation
of Glass Menagerie on April 6 and the Anderson and Ying
Quartets on April 20. The general audience is invited to receive
huge savings by subscribing to the Golden Eagle Series featuring
the Ballet Folklórico del Pacífico, Martha Graham,
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and Philadanco. Jazz aficionados
will enjoy a specially-priced series of three concerts featuring
the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, Jazz with McBride and Lovano, and
Buddy Rodriguez and the HMA Orchestra for a low price of $75.

To receive a season brochure or further Luckman Theatre information
call (323) 343-6610.

DANCE

Philadanco
Saturday, October 5, 8 p.m.
The Philadelphia Dance Company - Philadanco - has brought
performance excitement to enthusiastic audiences for more than
25 years. This professional company of highly-skilled dancers
emphasizes innovative works by American choreographers in dramatic
programs that have great audience appeal and win unanimous critical
praise. photo

Lula Washington Dance Theatre
Saturday, Nov. 16, 8 p.m./Sunday, Nov. 17, 4 p.m.Lula Washington Dance Theatre is internationally respected
for its repertory, a unique blend of African, modern and jazz
techniques, theater and humor. During 1996-97, Lula Washington's
company will tour coast-to-coast and abroad with Washington's
This Little Light and a repertory program of small-cast,
all-women works.

Martha Graham Dance Company
Saturday, February 8, 8 p.m.
Embodying the American spirit of artistic collaboration and ingenuity,
the Graham Company engages audiences with her visionary
classics Appalachian Spring, Diversion of Angels,
Cave of the Heart and Satyric Festival Song.
photo

Smuin Ballets/SF
Saturday, March 1, 8 p.m./ Sunday, March 2, 4 p.m.Smuin Ballets/SF's celebration of dance, packed with variety
and spitfire energy, features portions of Dances with Songs,
Frankie & Johnny and other repertory such as Scherzo
(set to Mahler), The Eternal Idol (to Chopin), pas de deux
from The Tempest (after Purcell) and Shinju (original
Japanese-influenced score), and the critically acclaimed One
Step Forward to Bach (to "The Well-Tempered Clavier").
photo

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens
Saturday, April 12, 8 p.m.
Admired world-wide for a style that combines the purest classicism
with the quirky virtuosity of contemporary movement, Les Grands
Ballets Canadienshas a repertoire that reflects some
of the most distinctive work by today's finest contemporary choreographers.

Lewitzky Dance Company Gala Performance--Save the Date!Saturday, May 17, 7 p.m.
The last Los Angeles performance honors the incredible career
of Bella Lewitzky, Los Angeles' grande dame of modern dance for
more than 30 years. Lewitzky will close her company after the
1996-97 season. Don't miss this very special performance featuring
the newly-commissioned work Four Women in Time; excerpts
from her expansive choreographic repertoire with special appearances
by former Lewitzky dancers and a special tribute to Bella. Gala
ticket prices will be available and will include a reception with
Lewitzky and the dancers. For more information on the Gala Reception
call (213) 580-6338.

AVAZ International Dance Theatre Saturday, June 7, 8 p.m.
In their 20th season, AVAZ International Dance Theatre
offers a rich tapestry of dances and music from the opulent courts
of Persia and Samarqand and Bukhara in Central Asia. Featured
will be dances and songs that were popular in courtly gatherings
from the Timurid, Safavid and Qajar periods, and songs and dances
of the colorful regional traditions of the Iranian world.
photo

Dance Kaleidoscope 1997
Friday, July 18, 8 p.m./ Saturday, July 19, 8 p.m.
Experience the fascinating range of dance in L.A.! When known
and rising choreographers show their best, the novel meets the
classic, ancient traditions square off with provocative hybrids,
and the audience is the winner. Companies from all over the Southland
compete each year to be represented in Dance Kaleidoscope,
L.A.'s leading dance showcase.

THEATRE

The Phantom of the Opera
Gala Event, Thursday, Oct. 31, 8 p.m./Friday,
Nov. 1, 8 p.m.
Luckman Theatre presents the 1925 film, The Phantom of the
Opera, and combines it with a full orchestra and singer performing
the movie's original score for a thrilling Halloween terror-fest.
In one of his greatest roles, Lon Chaney - Man of a Thousand Faces
- plays the phantom, a strange, disfigured musician who lives
in the vast, mysterious maze of cellars beneath the Paris Opéra.
photo

The Acting CompanyMud, River, Stone Friday, April 4, 8 p.m.As You Like It Saturday, April 5, 8 p.m.Glass Menagerie Sunday, April 6, 2 p.m.
Some of America's most gifted young actors offer robustly inventive
performances in Glass Menagerie, As You Like It
and Mud, River, Stone. Founded by Margot Harley and John
Houseman, The Acting Company has cultivated the careers
of Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone and Keith David, among others.

MUSIC

Brotherhood and Sisterhood All Star Jazz Band
Sunday, Sept. 29 at 4 p.m.
Buddy Collette leads the Brotherhood and Sisterhood All Star
Jazz Band with Bobby Rodriguez on trumpet, Art Davis on bass,
Ann Patterson on sax, Betty O'Hara on trombone, Al Viola on guitar,
Rommell Bright on piano, Leon Ndugu Chanceler on Drums, Abe Most
on clarinet, Nolan Shaheed on trumpet, Stacey Rowles on fluegelhorn,
Sharon Hirata on sax, and a congo bongo player to be named. This
will be a free big band concert, but tickets
are necessary. Call (323) 343-660 for information.

The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band
Friday, November 8, 8 p.m.The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band celebrates America's indigenous
music with original and traditional compositions commissioned
by Carnegie Hall. The Band has been hailed by critics for their
interpretations that represent the whole flow of what jazz means
as an art form and where it is headed. photo

Rita Moreno
Saturday, November 23, 8 p.m.
Rita Moreno's high-skill performance is a powerful exploration
of harmonies, orchestral colors and her boundless energy and expertise
as a singer and a dancer. Rita Moreno is the only female
performer to have won all four of the most prestigious show business
awards: the Oscar, the Emmy, the Grammy and the Tony.
photo

The Land of Smiles
Sunday, January 19, 2 p.m.
The Los Angeles Concert Opera presents The Land of Smiles,
Franz Lehár's famous operetta which is an irresistible
combination of Viennese charm and Oriental exoticism. This semi-staged
concert version in English, featuring the Los Angeles Performing
Arts Orchestra, will be performed with an award-winning cast.

Anderson Quartet & Ying Quartet
Sunday, April 20, 4 p.m.
Luckman Theatre features a thrilling night of chamber music by
the critically-acclaimed Anderson Quartet and Ying Quartet.
The Anderson Quartet is the first African American classical
ensemble to win the prestigious International Cleveland Quartet
Competition and the Ying Quartet has rapidly become one of the
best known and most highly regarded young ensembles on the American
music scene. photo

Bobby Rodriguez and the HMA Orchestra
Sunday, April 27, 4 p.m.
The 23-piece Hispanic Musicians Association Orchestra, led by
trumpeter Bobby Rodriguez, brings hot Latin Jazz to Luckman Theatre.
Bobby Rodriguez and the HMA Orchestra has gained world-wide
support and recognition with its release of two CDs.

Jazz with McBride and Lovano
Saturday, March 8, 8 p.m.Christian McBride, the most sought after young bassist
on the jazz scene, and Joe Lovano, honored as 1995's Most
Popular Tenor Saxophonist and with Jazz Album of the Year, and
as the 1995 and 1996 Jazz Musician of the Year, combine talents
for an incredible evening of music at Luckman Theatre.

THE FAMILY SERIES

Doctor Dinosaur
Sunday, October 20, 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
It's one thing to plan a Saturday morning TV show about dinosaurs
starring the leading paleontologist Dr. Vanderplastercaster but
it's quite another when the dinosaurs themselves join in the fun!
Meet Stella Stegosaurus, Dinah Diplodocus, the Hadrosaur from
Hackensack and others as the nationally acclaimed Dinorock
Productions presents a sensational show featuring an irresistibly
funny story, rollicking songs and huge dinosaur puppets.

Kinnara Taiko
Saturday, January 11, 2 p.m.
A delicious fury of sight and sound, Kinnara Taiko combines
rhythms of Japanese drums with choreographed movement, mime, flute
and other percussion sounds. One of the leading Japanese-American
taiko drums groups in the United States, Kinnara Taiko presents
a fascinating blend of traditional Japanese rhythms with American
musical influences from rock to jazz.

The Velveteen Rabbit
Saturday, March 22, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Margery Williams' heart-warming story of a toy rabbit who magically
comes to life through the love of a young boy is presented by
ODC/San Francisco. Their adaptation of TheVelveteen
Rabbit includes dancing, narration and music in this enduring
tale about love, loyalty and growing old.

The Anderson Quartet
Saturday, May 3, 2 p.m.
Enter the world of music and let your imagination soar! This special
matinee by the acclaimed Anderson Quartet, features innovative
hands-on activities introducing the world of classical music.

All performances and artists are correct as of publication.
Programs are subject to change.